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[Bentley]

Of course you love them too!  Did you know you can also cure your own? Of course you can!  You just need a little room in your fridge and 10 days.

Get Packer Brisket. 




This is the time you want to trim to your taste..  Some will like a little more fat with theirs, you are now the DeliMaster, you decide, this is about the fat I like.



Now we put the meat in a bucket, we fill the bucket with water and then we see how much water that is.  For me a trimmed & separated 15lb. brisket in a cat litter bucket will usually take right around 1 gallon of water.



Now we put in our curing agent and other ingredients
1 1/2 cups Kosher Salt,
4 medium garlic cloves, unpeeled and cut in half,
2/3 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons coriander seed
10 allspice berries
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seed
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
Small handful black peppercorns

I use what is called Modern Cure #1 (Insta Cure #1 or Pink curing salt #1),  it contains 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% table salt.  Thanks to knowledge of Papa Tom at Pelletheads.com, I was advised to use 1/4 cup #1 per gallon of water.  I do not dry cure, I just don't get and will leave it at that.  When I 1st started to do this all I did was leave it in the cure for 10 days, since then I have started to inject all over.  It is simple, and easy and not messy since you can just put the bucket in the sink and fill the injector right in the bucket. No fuss, no mess, I inject all over the meat about 50 injections!  In about 7-10 days you will have this.



Now this is Corned Beef, all you have to do is cook it the way you like.  I like mine steamed to 210° internal temperature.



Pastrami is one more step after the CB is cured but not cooked..  You need to put a rub on it, mine is very simple for the above mentioned size brisket you will need:
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup cracked black peppercorns
1/2 cup coriander seeds crushed
2 tablespoons mustard seeds crushed. 

Mix all ingredients except molasses.  Rub corned beef with molasses, all sides, then apply rub.  You can smoke under 200° or you can now BBQ, under 350° your meat.  I also like to finish pastrami in the steam, so I will usually pull from pit at about 175° IT  (depending on what temperature you cook at from 4-10 hours) and finish in steam to that 210°.

You should end up with this...



or this...




And then you should end up with this, this, this or even this!  Yeah, I know, mayo an onions with CB and NO Mustard...get over it!

[mowin]

Bentley,  you pastrami look great.  I pretty much do the same recipe as yours.  I also make venison pastrami that is absolutely fantastic..

[pz]

Very nice - I have not tried making corned beef yet, but your pictorial is an excellent tutorial, and those sandwiches look outstanding 

[Bentley]

Another 10 days of Wet Aging and I am gonna start one up!

[pz]

Looking forward to pics of the outcome.

I've only done pastrami using commercial corned beef packers, and it would be fun to tailor the flavor profile to personal preference

[Bentley]

Got a new batch going.  I put this in the cure on October 1, I usually will go a minimum of 10 days and sometimes 14, but I only had enough Modern Cure#1 for half a batch, so this is supplemented with TenderQuick.  Have that small piece going to see if it is enough, will make hash out of it for supper!

That water was as clear as it could be 8 days ago.  I guess those pickling spices really do release something!

[dclord]

Wow, I know those plates. Franciscan Desert Rose. I have the ones we got 20 years ago for our wedding, plus old pieces from my Grandmother and my step mom's mother and my uncle. Seem to run in our family. The old ones don't quite match the new ones, but I remember going to the factory with my dad as a child (when they were made in California) to look though piles of seconds and try to find ones where the flaw was barely visible. My dad was always looking for a bargain.

Oh the meat looks good too. I'd like to try that some day, but with teenagers in the house, the part about room in the refrigerator could be a problem.

[Bentley]

Yeah, ya pretty much need a 2nd one to do it correctly!

[CubsNut]

Any special trick to the steam finish, or do you just put it in a large stock pot with a bit of water?

[Bentley]

I use a big stock pot, a little water and a strainer to set the meat on so it is not in the water, sometimes inverted, sometimes not...Not sure if you can see it in these photos...

[lamrith]

WOW!   
Thanks to the walkthru Bentley!  Got me curious about trying it now.  Looks like you separate the flat and point, do you find you like to prepare/cook them a bit differently?  Maybe one is better for corned beef, one for pastrami..?

or this...

That bark looks great, is that one you BBQ @ 350?  If not can you share which cooking format you used?

[triplebq]

Can't beat a good pastrami sandwich.

[Bentley]

I think those were way back in 2009, reason I remember it, Larry had come to LA for a trade show and was staying with us.  I did separate the point and flat on those.  Was easier to trim, like a little fat with my pastrami, not my corned beef.  Same cooking style for both if I am making pastrami out of both. 

I would be lying if I told you I remember how I cooked that one in the picture.  I am not a note kind of guy, but back then it was all about low n slow, so it would have been a sacralidge to have been at 350°.  That was probably 240° till IT of 175°, then in the steam to 210° IT...

WOW!   
Thanks to the walkthru Bentley!  Got me curious about trying it now.  Looks like you separate the flat and point, do you find you like to prepare/cook them a bit differently?  Maybe one is better for corned beef, one for pastrami..?

That bark looks great, is that one you BBQ @ 350?  If not can you share which cooking format you used?